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emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Emily Henry has done it again. I was skeptical about this book bc it didn’t seem like her usual style, but I think this might actually be one of my favorites. I loved seeing the mystery of Margaret Ives unraveling with every chapter. And the plot twist completely shocked me. I will say that I was more interested in the mystery of the Ives family rather than the romance between Hayden and Alice.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
This book felt misgenred, it is not a rom com but more of a generational women's fiction with a romantic side plot. Those two genres felt like they were competing most of the time, even though they all came together in the end. I also had trouble keeping up with the Ives family tree and history.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Dementia, Grief, Car accident
Minor: Pregnancy
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment
Minor: Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Pregnancy
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What I love about Emily Henry is that she writes characters that feel very real. Their dialogue feels authentic, they react to situations in ways that feel genuine, and their backstories logically explain how they came to be the people they are. In Great Big Beautiful Life, our main character is a writer, and she realizes that everything she writes comes down to love, that that is all she's ever wanted to write. It felt like that was Henry peaking through in her character, that her stories are always about love. Not just romance, but love of various kinds -- sisters, parent-child, friends, etc. Alice and Hayden are definitely among my favorite of Henry's couples, and the story-within-the-story was interesting as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Mental illness, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
The story is great but the sex scenes are unnecessarily detailed. Not my jam.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Will update this later but I’m just so pissed off rn
literally fuck off. I hate pregnancy trope endings so much.
Also, since when is 1,70 m considered tall?
Also, since when is 1,70 m considered tall?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Classism
Minor: Child death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Alcohol
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Car accident, Death of parent
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not my favorite Emily Henry book, but still a good time! I didn’t think I would like the flashbacks but they ended up working out by the end. These people fell in love WAY too fast.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Emily Henry is pretty hit or miss for me—honestly, I usually don’t love her books. And I’m not really a romance girlie to begin with, so take this with a grain of salt… but I actually liked this one!
Great Big Beautiful Life had more depth than I expected, and while a lot of people are comparing it to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I don’t really think that’s a fair comparison. Yes, there’s a similar setup, but this is its own thing entirely.
What I appreciated most was that the story didn’t rely solely on the romance—it had plot, character development, and some real emotional weight. It’s not a five-star read for me, but it’s definitely one I’d recommend if you like books with a romance element that also give you something more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident